The Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has got a new full-time member in Sanjay Kumar Mishra, a 1984 batch Indian Revenue Service officer. The EAC-PM is an independent body constituted to advise on economic issues and policy formulation by addressing issues of macroeconomic importance.
Sanjay Kumar Mishra's appointment gains significance as he brings with him a rich experience of handling economic matters globally -starting from his stint in the Department of Revenue more than a decade ago when double taxation disputes between countries was a concern, to proactively helping implement measures that placed India in a favourable position.
His handling of the international tax regime is less known but Mishra, who served as joint secretary (foreign tax division ) in the Department of Revenue between 2010-2013, was instrumental in resolving double taxation disputes with 175 countries, including the United States, Japan, United Kingdom, France and Netherlands.
He also negotiated more than 65 double taxation avoidance agreements and tax information exchange agreements, that provide for the exchange of information with countries on requests related to specific criminal or civil tax matters. In addition, he was also the Indian representative to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development between 2008-2013 where he played a significant role in the revision of the OECD convention on international tax and transfer pricing guidelines.
Mishra was also instrumental in rolling out the Advance Pricing Agreement programme in 2012 after the country saw a large number of transfer pricing cases held up in dispute and helped streamline the pricing of international transactions. His experience in handling economic issues gave the revenue authorities an edge as General Anti-Avoidance Rules emerged as a significant step to address widespread issues of tax avoidance as against tax mitigation.
Mishra then served in the Union Home Ministry from 2013-2014 holding crucial posts like joint secretary (border management) before coming to the ED. It is then that he transformed the Enforcement Directorate from a tiny agency handling economic offences under the revenue department into a powerful agency—serving as its director from 2018 to 2023—the longest tenure of any ED director since the time the agency got it’s teeth through the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, a law that came into force in 2005. He brought in several standard operating procedures to streamline the organisational work, cracked down on errant officers and focused on bringing the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act to deter economic offenders from evading arrests by staying abroad besides allowing confiscation of their assets.
Mishra, 65, spent close to seven years in totality in ED - more than any of his predecessors- since his first stint in ED was between 1989-1993 when he was assistant director - a post that is now equivalent to a deputy director.
What is lesser known about Mishra is that he is a postgraduate in biochemistry from Lucknow University and worked as a researcher in Central Drug Research Institute in Lucknow as a senior research fellow before joining the Indian Revenue Service. Mishra is now often referred to as a walking encyclopedia on economic matters in the country.
His knowledge of financial laws both in India and abroad later helped shape India's pitch at the Financial Action Task Force, the global money laundering and terror financing watchdog, that won praise in 2024. The FATF noted that significant steps have been taken by India to tackle illicit finance and ensure technical compliance. Those who have worked with him attribute it to an outcome-oriented approach in tackling corruption, black money, terror funding and money laundering. Insiders say the deterrent effect raised India's position subsequently as the only major economy with a federal structure that figures on the "regular follow up" category of the FATF.
Those close to Mishra say that he is an officer who keeps a low profile but his strong grip on economic matters and policy formulation has often helped the government tackle critical issues in the last decade.
The passing away of eminent economist Bibek Debroy, who was the chairman of the EAC to the PM, last year had created a gap that needed to be filled by the government. It is expected that Mishra will be playing a key role in steering the economic policies of the Modi government in its third term.
